Review – MIO Cyclo 200

The MIO Cyclo 200 is a high quality bicycle satnav with colour touchscreen.

Positives: Comes pre-loaded with region-specific, cycle- and road-maps. Specific routes/tracks can be downloaded from the mioshare site or you can create and follow your own routes. I like the back-to-start functionality and the intuitive navigation.

Display resolution is a very creditable 320×240 pixels – a resolution/size that’s ‘about right’ for most people.

Negatives: For me to use this kind of product I would want it to be able to record cadence and heart rate data.

Comments: If you’ve previously used a car satnav then you won’t need to read the manual. The Cyclo 200 is intuitive to use. Innovative features like ‘surprise me’ routes and POIs that include bicycle repair shops are nice. MIO have a full range of products; the Cyclo 200 is nearer the bottom end in terms of functionality. So if you DO want extra navigational features and extra data fields (like power, cadence, HR) then you really should look at their other models. The mioshare web platform is, probably intentionally, fairly sparse – MIO make up for that by automatically linking to other well-known web platforms such as STRAVA. Companies like MIO can NEVER hope to compete with what the likes of STRAVA can offer so they have a great strategy, focussing on enriching their hardware offering and not getting too distracted by web software development.

Note: MIO Global, who make the heart rate monitors, are a different company.

Alternatives: Research carefully. Many cycling computers are geared more towards competitive cycling. If you don’t want to get lost on a family cycling holiday or if you want to explore new commute routes to work or around where you live/work/holiday then this kind of product is better geared towards your needs. You could use a smartphone but they are battery hungry and generally less durable.